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Chelsea failed with €70m bid to make 23-year-old most expensive Spanish footballer ever

Real Madrid star Alvaro Morata has revealed that Chelsea offered “roughly” €70m to sign him this past summer, but the La Liga giants refused to sell.

The 23-year-old saw Real exercise the buy-back clause in his contract with Juventus ahead of the season, and he made no secret of his preference to fight for his place in the starting line-up at the Bernabeu instead of moving on.

That commitment was seemingly reciprocated as Los Blancos rejected interest from Chelsea, despite a huge offer of around €70m being submitted, as noted by the player himself.

“Chelsea showed the most interest,” he told Sport Bild. “Antonio Conte had already signed me for Juventus. And it was a very good offer this time. I would have been the most expensive Spanish player ever.

Morata added that it was “roughly” €70m, but Real “said that they have me in their plans, and that was always a dream of mine.”

Many believed that Real had simply taken the striker back to sell him on for a profit, but evidently they changed from that stance and will hope that Morata can be a pivotal part of their success in the years ahead.

As a result of the decision to ensure he stayed in Spain, Chelsea signed Michy Batshuayi while Arsenal, also linked with a move for the Spanish international, signed his compatriot Lucas Perez from Deportivo La Coruna.

Morata scored 12 goals in 47 appearances for Juve last season, including a number of key goals for the Serie A champions in Europe.

Now, he will now look to make his second spell in the Spanish capital a success and will hope to have no regrets about his desire to stay when Chelsea were undoubtedly keen to reunite him with Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge.